ROCK HILL, SOUTH CAROLINA - Winthrop President Dan Mahony e-mailed this statement to the Winthrop campus on June 10 after the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to support his decision not to pursue football.
Here is his e-mail to faculty and staff:
Today, the Board of Trustees endorsed my recommendation that Winthrop not pursue a
football program. I would like to share with you how we came to this decision.
My recommendation was based on the findings of a study conducted by a team of Winthrop
faculty, as well as research undertaken by other universities considering football,
and an analysis of the impact on colleges and universities that began football programs.
First, it is important to understand that adding a football program is very expensive.
Moreover, as we conducted our analysis, it was clear that cost would be even greater
than had been discussed in previous years. The federal Office of Civil Rights has
standards that universities must meet in order to be in compliance with Title IX.
In order to meet those gender equity standards, Winthrop would have to add women's
sports to balance the impact of football.
And, due to the size of a football team, this would likely mean adding three or, possibly,
four new women's programs. So the total cost of adding football is really the cost
of adding four or five more athletic programs.
The costs of adding these programs would start several years before the teams would
even begin to play, with total expenses during those years of about $3 million to
$5 million, depending on the women's sports added. This would all be before earning
any revenue from games. These large, upfront costs with no revenue would undermine
Winthrop's well-established fiscal stability.
Even after playing begins, the annual operating expenses for football alone would
be about $4.7 million for a scholarship program and closer to $3.2 million for a non-scholarship
program. Again, the ongoing costs of the women's programs would depend on the sports
added, but all of the sports examined would have costs that exceed revenues. Along
with operating expenses, there would be substantial costs associated with building
new facilities. Winthrop would have to spend more than $11 million on football facilities
immediately and likely more over time. The cost of facilities for the women's programs
would depend on the sports chosen but could also be expensive.
Direct sources of revenue for football at the Division I FCS level, including ticket
sales, fundraising, and away game guarantees would generate less than $2 million annually
for a scholarship program and likely less for a non-scholarship program. Even in a
good year with a large away-game guarantee, we would be left with a substantial revenue
deficit.
The logical question is how would the university cover that additional cost? Most
institutions that have started football programs have used some combination of increases
in student fees, large donations, and general operating funds.
In a survey of Winthrop students, they demonstrated interest in attending football
games and support for adding a football program. However, they are not willing to
subsidize the extensive costs of a football program. Of the students surveyed, 50%
reported they would oppose paying anything and 93% would be willing to add only $100
or less per year to their student fees for football. By way of comparison, UNC-Charlotte
has added fees of $320 per year to support football, with a much larger student body.
Moreover, it is important to point out that adding a student fee would work against
our priority in the draft strategic plan to keep education affordable for our students.
In addition to surveying students, we also surveyed alumni and community members.
Both indicated support for adding a program and a desire to attend games. This is
not surprising. I fully appreciate that football is deeply ingrained in our surrounding
community's culture. As the faculty report notes, in 2013 The Sporting News labeled
Rock Hill "Football City USA." And I expect a Winthrop football program would be
embraced by fans on and off campus. Therefore, in the analysis we projected higher
attendance than the average for Division I FCS programs. However, while I would expect
attendance to be good, there is no indication that there would be the large donations
necessary to cover the substantial gap between expenses and revenues. In fact, it
is interesting to note that, although football has been discussed here for the last
several years, no one has indicated to me a desire to make a substantial donation
to help cover this substantial gap.
So, if the costs of football could not be covered by increases in student fees and/or
large donations, we would need to use general operating funds to cover the increased
costs. Some have suggested that adding football would lead to increases in enrollment
that would help to generate the additional general operating funds necessary. An analysis
based on data derived from other colleges and universities suggests that a football
program can increase male applications and result in increased full-time freshmen
enrollment.
However, the analysis also predicts that retention rates would be reduced and overall
undergraduate enrollment would not improve. Therefore, it appears unlikely that adding
football would generate the additional tuition revenue necessary to cover the costs
of adding football.
The money we would need to take from the general operating funds would mean shifting
resources from other priorities to football and the other new sports. This reality
is likely why faculty and staff were the least supportive of adding football. They
believed that resources directed to football would be better spent elsewhere on campus,
and I would agree with them.
In fact, during the last year we have been working on a strategic plan for Winthrop's
future. Implementing this plan will require us to thoughtfully focus our resources
on initiatives that will most likely help us to achieve the priorities in the plan.
Adding multiple sports would not appear to provide the benefits to justify the costs.
This was not an easy decision to make. I thank all who participated in this process
and the Board of Trustees for endorsing my recommendation. With football put to rest,
we can now focus our energies on implementing a plan that will provide our students
with the educational experience for which Winthrop is justifiably renowned.
Sincerely,
Dr. Daniel F. Mahony
President
